Skywalker Ranch

This is the workplace / home of George Lucas and is located just off Lucas Valley Road (no relationship).

The main house and production facilities ARE NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, there are security guards who patrol the place. Construction began in 1980, the Ranch consists of over 4,700 acres and cost over an estimated $100 million, but given that there were many objections by neighbours, Lucasfilm acquired their properties adding more than 3,000 acres although only some 15 acres are developed.

The Ranch has a barn, Vineyards, fitness centre and pool, its very own fire department, a man made lake known as “Lake Ewok”, a baseball diamond, underground parking for 200 staff.

The facilities for film making are second to none. There are multiple screening and editing rooms where directors like Ridley Scott and Clint Eastwood have worked on their films.

There is also Skywalker Sound housed in the tech building, the state of the art sound production facility where Foley, dubbing and audio mixing for most major movies has taken place.

There is an archives building which houses many of the props used in Lucasfilm production like Star Wars, Indiana Jones etc… it has very restricted access. And then there is The Main House, built in a Victorian style with winding staircase, Victorian library, fine antiques and even Tiffany chandeliers. It also houses Lucas’s private office on the top floor – Mr Lucas does not live here !

AND YES I WOULD LIKE TO VISIT IT….. PLEASE GEORGE….PLEASE….

NB. Lucasfilm is building its new headquarters of Industrial Light and Magic on the site of the former Letterman hospital.

George Lucas won the development rights for 15 acres (61,000 m²) of the Presidio in June 1999 after beating out a number of rival plans including a leading proposal by the Shorenstein Company. A massive $300 million development with nearly 900,000 square feet (84,000 m²) of office space and a 150,000 square foot (14,000 m²) underground parking garage with planned capacity of 2,500 employees will replace former ILM headquarters in San Rafael.

Lucas Learning Ltd., Lucas Online, and the George Lucas Educational Foundation will also move to the site. Lucas’ proposal includes plans for a high-tech Presidio museum and a seven acre (28,000 m²) “Great Lawn” that will be open to the public and also includes a 298-seat, state-of-the-art, THX-certified screening room equipped for digital projection.